Maine woman charged in 2018 beating death of daughter seeks to annul marriage

Sharon Carrillo is expected to ask a District Court judge to end her marriage to Julio Carrillo, who also is charged with murder in Marissa Kennedy's slaying, alleging he already was married at the time they wed.

Sharon Carrillo, 34, is expected to ask a District Court judge in Wiscasset on Thursday to void her marriage to Julio Carrillo, 52, because he had at least one wife at the time the couple wed and may still be married to a third woman, said Christopher MacLean, Sharon Carrillo’s attorney.

Sharon and Julio Carrillo Photos courtesy of Waldo County Jail

Marissa Kennedy

Each of the Carrillos faces one count of depraved indifference murder.

MacLean said he intends to present evidence at the hearing that Julio Carrillo was never legally divorced from Kathleen Carrillo of Louisville, Kentucky.

In March, Kathleen Carrillo said in an interview with the Portland Press Herald that she was married to Julio Carrillo in 2000, and that during the course of their six-year relationship he beat her regularly and was controlling. After Julio Carrillo left her in 2006, Kathleen Carrillo said, she did not know whether their union was ever legally dissolved, or if he simply moved on without divorcing her.

Kathleen Carrillo could not be reached for comment Wednesday, and there was no response to a telephone message left for a relative. However, an online obituary for a woman of the same name who died in September at age 67 contains details that match those of Kathleen Carrillo’s life, including that she was a retired housekeeper at a hospital. In the March interview, Kathleen Carrillo described how she met Julio Carrillo when they both worked as hospital housekeepers.

Sharon Carrillo is expected to testify at the hearing Thursday, MacLean said, which will be her first public statements since she was arrested in February 2018.

The Carrillos were arrested Feb. 25 after first responders were called to the Stockton Springs condominium where the couple were living. Julio Carrillo had reported that his 10-year-old step-daughter, Marissa Kennedy, had an accident in their basement and was injured, but investigators quickly determined that Kennedy had been severely and routinely beaten.

In interviews with state police detectives, the Carrillos told investigators that they both brutally beat Kennedy every day, for weeks, before they found her unresponsive and attempted to stage a scene as if her injuries were accidental, according to court records.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner performed an autopsy and determined that Kennedy died of battered child syndrome, and that she had recently suffered a subdural hematoma and a lacerated liver and also showed signs of multiple old injuries that were caused by acute and chronic abuse.

MacLean, meanwhile, contends that Sharon Carrillo was victimized by Julio Carrillo, saying that he was a violent and controlling figure in his client’s life, and that Sharon Carrillo may not have participated in the beatings.